


i’m running out of air (but i blame myself for diving in)

by lafgl



Series: fragile heart [5]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Female Percy Jackson, Femslash February, Femslash February 2020, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22966057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lafgl/pseuds/lafgl
Summary: the fem!percabeth alternate ending to TLO that's been sitting around in my head for the past few months
Series: fragile heart [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553368
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	i’m running out of air (but i blame myself for diving in)

**i’ve been tucked in at the bottom of this lake**   
**and i’ve begun to settle in**   
**it could be worse, i guess**

**pretty vacant ..//.. bayside**

* * *

“Hey,” Annabeth slides onto the bench next to Percy, “Happy birthday.”

Percy notices the huge cupcake she’s holding — with blue icing, no less — and looks back at her. “What?”

“It's August 18th,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “Your birthday, right?”

So it is. It's hard to even think about celebrating when it's wrought so much destruction. _What a sweet sixteen it turned out to be._ “I guess?”

“So make a wish.” Annabeth extends it to Percy, hoping it'll lift her spirits a little.

“Did you make this?” Percy asks. She knows the answer, but can't believe Annabeth found the time to.

“Tyson helped,” she replies sheepishly.

“Well, that explains why it looks like a chocolate brick with extra blue cement.”

Annabeth laughs, “I hope it tastes better.”

Percy smiles, and simply shakes her head. She blows out the candle and picks it out of the icing, licking it clean. Annabeth peels away part of the paper wrapper, and grabs a piece between her fingers, and Percy does the same. “Definitely better,” Percy notes. They stay like that for a while, listening to the sounds of the woods and the ocean; a symphony of stillness, a sense that everything was going to be okay.

“You saved the world.”

Not alone she didn’t. “ _We_ saved the world.” Even that’s a vast understatement. It's so much bigger than the two of them.

Annabeth thinks it over, and there’s only one logical question: “So what now?”

Percy turns to look at her, cracking a smile when she sees the dot of blue icing on the corner of her mouth. “Everything goes back to normal?”

She turns, clasping her hands together in her lap and looking down at her feet kicking up dirt. “…I don't know if I know what that is.”

Percy isn’t sure she does either, but she doesn’t think admitting it will help.

“Summer's almost over. School's about to start. You're gonna leave.” Everyone leaves. She’s used to it.

“So come stay with me.” It's a spontaneous offer, but she knows her mom will be fine with it, and having Annabeth with her for the year sounds like a dream. The look on Annabeth’s face is complex, but Percy recognizes the doubt within it. “Seriously.”

“I—” she starts, eyes wide. It's not worth protesting; Percy assures her with a tilt of her head. “Thank you, Percy.”

Percy stares out at the lake, letting her thoughts roam. Everything's going to be so different now that they're not brought together by the world being in peril. Panic sets in: what if she does something reckless and makes things weird between them? It wouldn’t be fair to Annabeth, not when Percy's just narrowly escaped death yet again, not when she's something _safe_. Then, she leans her head on Percy’s shoulder, and she feels warmth radiate in every direction. _By the gods_ , all she wants is for this moment to last forever; Annabeth feeling safe enough to let her guard down, the feel of her soft blonde hair against her skin.


End file.
